Berwick."

"All that is very well, Mike; but it will not satisfy me more than
it satisfies others. So I am resolved to try to get to the bottom
of the affair, even if I have to go direct to John O'Carroll,
though I know that the chance of his telling me anything is but
slight. The only way, indeed, that seems likely to lead to
anything is to call upon as many of the Kennedys as I can
discover, and ask whether Murroch Kennedy, who left Ireland after
the siege of Limerick, married and left a child of two years old
behind him. If so, and that child suddenly disappeared when his
father left for France, there would be every reason for assuming
that I was the child in question; though why he should have
committed me to the charge of John O'Carroll, instead of to one of
his own family, is not easily seen; unless the whole of the
Kennedys were in such ill favour, with the English Government,
that he thought it better to trust me to one who was in good odour
with the supporters of Dutch William, and was therefore safe from
disturbance in his estates."

"Sure, your honour, you are arguing it out like a counsellor, and
there is no gainsaying what you have spoken. I have no doubt you
will ferret it out. With such a head as you have on your
shoulders, it is hard if you cannot circumvent that ould rascal at
Kilkargan."

"At any rate we will try, you and I. While I am visiting the
Kennedys, you can be finding out people who were at Limerick
during the siege, and gather all they can remember about the
Kennedys there."

As Desmond had expected, the duke, as soon as he heard his story,
at once granted him leave of absence.

"I hope you may succeed, Kennedy," he said. "It is a poor lookout
to be risking death continually in the service of a foreign king.
I grant that we have the knack of making ourselves at home,
wherever we may be, and there are Irish officers in every army in
Europe; but, however successful Irishmen may be, they cannot but
long to be among their own people in their own land. And if, as
you tell me, Lord Godolphin will befriend you, I for one shall
think no worse of you if you settle down at home when you have
found your family. I know that if the sword should be again drawn,
with a fair prospect of success, you will declare for the rightful
king."

"That I should certainly do, sir; and will assuredly give no
promise, or undertaking, to abstain from joining any royal army
that may be raised in Ireland. But it